Samantha Harris Interview Australis 2019

Samantha Harris On The Best Piece of Advice She's Been Given

Nothing makes you feel confident quite like a layer of lipstick. The Australis Cosmetics GRLBOSS range encourages female empowerment, one lipstick at a time, giving females the confidence to be their own GRL BOSS. With over 100 shades across lipsticks, lip creams, glosses and balms there is something for everyone.

Modelling isn't easy, and the industry, well, it's known for breaking the toughest of nuts. But not Samantha Harris. The Indigenous-Australian model's career kicked off when she was just 13-years old. She's now 28.

I've crossed paths with Samantha in the past — I've watched her walk runways and interviewed her beforehand amongst the chaos backstage — and while I've always admired her, I've never gotten to know her. That was, until we found ourselves on set together to shoot something special for the Australis Cosmetics GIRLBOSS collection launch.

It's no surprise the home-grown beauty brand picked Samantha as one of four inspiring women to front the campaign. After a 15-year-strong career, you'd expect her to be somewhat jaded but instead, she was a breath of fresh air. She was confident but not cocky, despite being the most experienced model on set. She treated the assistant as she did the photographer, and stylist. Sam Harris epitomises what it means to be a leading lady who makes it her business to empower others in 2019.

In-between shots, we spoke to Sam about her long career, how she's risen above adversity and takes her position as a role model for young women and aspiring models very seriously.

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Dave Wheeler

POPSUGAR Australia:So, do you want to start by telling me about your career path and how you got started in the industry?

Samantha Harris: Well, I'm a model. I started when I was 13 years old, and I'm now 28. So, a very long time ago. I entered the Girlfriend Model Search in 2004, and I was lucky enough to be one of the six finalists nationwide and I got signed to Chic Management —I've been with them ever since.

PS: Who are some of your mentors, whether in the industry or out of the industry?

SH: One of my mentors is my mum. She's a very strong-headed woman, but in a nice way. She's very kind, very giving, but also very determined and I really admire that.

PS: That's really nice. What are some of the biggest challenges you've had to face in your career and what have you learned from those challenges?

SH: Biggest challenges? I suppose when I was younger, travelling can be hard, especially when you're 13 — being away from my family at such a young age. But also now I'm getting older, social media has started to become a challenge. There are a lot of people, with a lot of opinions, and some of them aren't very nice. I've had some horrible things come my way, but I just take it with a grain of salt. It does hurt my feelings, but I'd rather them be saying it to me than a young girl that hasn't had as much life experience and can handle it.

PS: Do you have any ways that you deal with that specifically or just keep growing a really thick skin?

SH: Now I've actually grown quite a thick skin which is good, because I used to get really upset about it. It still upsets me a little bit, but I just delete the comment. Don't give whoever it is the time of day because at the end of the day they just want a reaction and they're not getting it from me so they can go somewhere else.

1 / 3

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Dave Wheeler

PS: What's the best piece of advice you've been given, and the worst?

SH: The best piece of advice would be from my mum. She would always say to me, "Don't forget where I came from." Which when I was younger I was like, "of course I'm not gonna forget, mum." But now that I'm older I understand what she means. I love what I do, I love my job but at the end of the day, I gotta go home, I've gotta clean my house, I've gotta do the grocery shopping. It's very real, very normal. I've live in the model world and I come back to reality which I think is really nice. It keeps me grounded, I have a very supportive family, a very supportive husband.

PS: What self-care practices do you put in place to help achieve your goals.

SH: Self-care practices. . . definitely exercise. I've been doing F45 and I really enjoy it. You do it for a month as a challenge and it's so good. My life can be quite busy at times and you need to just zone out. Also I'm conscious of eating well, obviously it's my job but also for my well-being. I feel the older you get you are more in tune you need to be with what you put into your body. I also wake up every morning and think of a few things I'm grateful for. I could be having a bad day or something but there is someone out there that is much worse off than I am. So I am thankful for everything that I have and being in the position I am.

PS: That's great advice. What kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind?

SH: I think what I would like to leave behind ... I would like to see a lot more different body shapes and sizes in the modelling industry. I think that would be amazing because when I started there actually really wasn't at all. And just girls loving themselves. Again, with social media you only see the good side of things. Everyone has crappy days. Just people embracing and loving who they are. I've been there, I've compared myself to all these supermodels and things like that. But at the end of the day, you've just got to be the best version of you. Just be the best that you can be and don't worry about what anybody else is doing.

2 / 3

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Dave Wheeler

PS: That's good advice. What career accomplishment are you most proud of?

SH: Career accomplishment? I'm proud of all of them. It's hard to pick one but I have picked one. It would be being on the cover of Vogue Australia in 2009.

PS: I remember that. It was beautiful.

SH: Not only does every girl want to be in Vogue, let alone be on the cover. My mum's got it in her house and she's framed it.

PS: That's really lovely. What do you love most about what you do?

SH: I love that I can inspire young girls. I love my job. I love being here today. But knowing that I'm the reason some girls choose to take a certain path. Some girls look up to me. My phone's got messages saying 'you're my idol' and it makes my life, my job so much more fulfilling. I'm not just a model, I'm an inspiration to somebody. That's really special.

PS: That is really special. Do you have anything that you're yet to accomplish but you'd love to achieve in your lifetime?

SH: In my life I want to have a business of some sort. I don't know. I love makeup, so it could be something down that kind of path. That's what I want to do. As I'm getting older I feel I know a lot more about what I love and what I could do next.

PS: If you have anyone as your mentor, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

SH: Any one as my mentor? Oprah. Oprah came from nothing. She came from literally nothing and she is one of the most powerful women in the world and she's so inspiring.

PS: Yeah. She's so inspiring. I feel like if she walked in right now I wouldn't know what to do. I would actually not be able to speak.